DUEL TO THE DEATH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11544, 1 December 1900, Page 2 (Supplement)

DUEL TO THE DEATH.

FOR LOVE OF AN INDIAN GIRL.

FoaT Myers, Fla., ' October Terribly wounded and at death's door, with three bullet marks on his breast and two on his shoulder, and knife thrusts and gashes many and! deep, Jim the Hunter, a noted Seminole chief and brave, was jfound by a hunting party camping near Turtle Mound.

Before he died, two days later, in spite of all that the rude nursing of the camp could do for him, he told one of the guides, who understood Seminole, this story of love and jealousy and hate and fierce encounter away out in the depths of the Everglades. Jim the Hunter was second chief of the encampment below Turtle Mound. He was well known to the whites because of his skill with the rifle and the many skins he used to bring out to sell, and to the Indians a3 a man of substance and influence. In the encampment was another chief, a relative of the famous Tommy Tiger-Tail. He had a little daughter, Ello-wa-ha, or Ellah-wah-ha, who used to play about the camp, and whom the whites knew as Dancing Feather. Well, this girl grew from childhood to maidenhood with the swiftness of the South. The superb blood of generations of chiefs was in her veins ; in spirit, stature, beauty, in proud feature and undaunted eye, she was the match of any belle of the cities. Nor was her skin much more black, for Seminoles of chiefly blood have never intermarried! with blacks. By all odds Ello-wa-ha was the queen of the camp. All the young braves were in love with her. A cousin named Tiger-Eye was her favourite, and this had caused much strife in the village, though the influence of the old chief had prevented any outbreak. t, But two other braves besides Jim the Hunter had'.vowed! that Tiger-Eye should not secure' the prize, though all were so jealous that they did not work together. At a big tribal dance last summer Dancing Feather gave open encouragement to Tiger-Eye, and his rivals then began to threaten his death. This coming to his ears, he defied them all and dared them to meet him in combat one at a time.

Jim the Hunter waited in dignity for the field to be cleared. The two other braves accepted the challenge and, one after another, Tiger-Eye met them and shot them dead, receiving only a trifling wound himself.

This part of the tale goes by hearsay only. Seminoles are not averse to bragging, and it may be that Jim the Hunter himself slightly exaggerated, even on his couch oi death, the prowess of his chief rival. But as to what followed!, Jim's own frame, gashed and torn and bleeding, bore mut< witness.

It' seems that Tiger-Eye, flushed with triumph, met Jim face to face. "Aha!" he sneered. "The Hunter is not a hunter of men!"

" When a man crosses mv path, yes; 1 see no man now," replied Jim, looking straight at his rival. After that, of course, there could be no peace between them. Curiously enough, Ello-wa-ha tried to stop the fight. Most Indians girls would have been proud to have the two finest braves of the tribe fight for her, but Dane ing Feather's love was greater than her pridb. and in her visits to the whites she had learned a little of the religion of the mercy that palefaces preach so much better that) they practice. Her father, a stern old warrior, forbade her to interfere, saying the best brave must have her as his squaw. But Dancing Feather went to Jim and implored him to drop the matter. Jim was thoroughly in love with the Indian girl and only vowed the more grimly that she must live in his wigwam. She persisted, and Jim sullenly refused to give her up. Then she desisted in despair. But before he left her she killed in Jim's breast all hope of wedding her by fair means. Sde told him plainly that she preferred Tiger-Eye. That roused the demon in Jim. As he told th« story afterward, he lured her into his canoe. Quite as likely he knocked her c'bwn and carried her there by main force. At any rate, he had taken her two miles from the Mound when she became alarmed (or conscious) and fought him madly in the little rocking canoe. *Ind then si" l called for Tiger-EJe's aid. "Scream all you like,' sa*a Jim; "TigerEye can't help you. You must go to my hut and be my squaw!" Suddenly an echoing call came from behind a near-by island and a canoe shot into sight carrying Tiger-Eye. Someone had told him what had happened. Dancing Feather called to him to hurry and save her. Jim saw the danger, and, reaching for his rifle, sent a shot at his rival. But Dancing Feather knocked the rifle aside, probably saving Tiger-Eye's life. Jim struck her a blow, knocking her to the bottom of the canoe. Tiger-Eye gave his warwhoop and urged his flying rival to wait for him. Jim plied his paddle, and, despite his burden, was holding his own in the desperate race when Tiger-Eye dropped his paddle and fired, sending a bullet into Jim's left arm. fThe'n,' Jim drove bis boat ashore and landed. Neither man. had a repeating rifle. They threw their empty guns on the ground and drew their hunting knives to fight to the death. Then, in the silence of the Everglades, in the deepest wilderness the American continent yet holds, with no witness but the poor girl just recovering from the blow that had felled) her, ensued a terrible duel for life and love. The men feinted, guarded, fended. Unheeded the keen knives slit their skin; the blood drops patted) on the leaves. They were fending a mortal blow. Their tread was catlike —now round and round, now a quic.i stepping aside, now a sudden lunge. Their bodies were bent far forward from the waist, their eyes glared defiance, they panted with the exertion. They hissed insults at one another. Finally Jim feigned a fall and Tiger-Eye leaped! forward. It was a fatal move. Jim slipped to one side, and as Tiger-Eye came flying from the shore with madness in her rival's breast. Then Tiger-Eye sank to the ground, chanting his death song. It was answered by a scream, and Dancing Feather came flying from the shore with madness in her eyes. Before she could be seized she snatched) up Tiger-Eye's knife and stabbed Jim the deepest wound ho had received, and then ran to the lake. Jim was not fatally hurt, and he followed to capture her. Then the savage woke in the) girl's breast. Generations of forest women's blood pulsed in her veins ; they sang with her lips, heaped high the scorn she put upon Jim. Never would she live and be a cowardfs squaw— one who struck women and slew men by tricks, she said. Tribal law might rule her the victor's prize, but there was a higher law. And, singing, she plunged into the water and was seen no more. Jim's wounds might not have been fatal if attended to promptly. But now they began to annoy him, and ho tried to get his canoe. After a long time he secured it. Half a mile from the island ho was fired upon and hit several times, as he thought, by Tiger-Eye's friends. Paddling to a point some miles below, he got to land and tried to make his way to Fort Myers that the white men's medicine might save him. But it was too far and he was too seriously hurt. He was found in the woods almost dying, and though the hunters did all that was possible for him he died from loss of blood and exhaustion. Several Indians have been to Fort Myers since then, and one made guarded! inquiries as •to a wounded Indian who might have come to town for aid. He learned of the death of Jim and seemed pleased at the news. He told) the others of what he had learned and all the band quickly left. When asked about the matter they refused to give any details, saying that Jim had probably hurt himself in some way. It is known that the camp at Turtle Mound has been moved, and that a big mourning dance was held! there the night previous to their moving. And neither Tiger-Eye nor the chief's beautiful daughter, Ello-wa-ha, has ever been heard of since Jim the Hunter, dying, told Ids story.